Room Temperature d0 Ferromagnetism of Ag:ZnO Compounds.

With an aim to explore the d0 ferromagnetism in Ag-doped ZnO compounds, the poly-crystalline samples of Zn 1 - x Ag x O (with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.12) were synthesized by a standard solid-state synthesis technique. The XRD analyses indicated that these compounds have been formed as Ag:ZnO nanocomposite. According to scanning electron microstructural study, all compounds have a homogenous nearly spherical shape morphology. The EDS spectra reveal that the final produced compounds do not contain any unwanted external impurity. The magnetization versus field measurement at room temperature demonstrates that the undoped ZnO compound shows ferromagnetism embedded in diamagnetic matrix, whereas all Ag-doped ZnO samples exhibit a clear room temperature ferromagnetic behavior with coercivity values between 80 and 196 Oe. The maximum saturation magnetization was obtained for the Zn0.97Ag0.03O sample; however, it declines subsequently. The bound magnetic polarons (BMPs) has been considered to explain the observed ferromagnetic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]